When an auxiliary implement, such as a snowplow, is mounted onto the front of a vehicle, the vehicle's headlights and turn signals are commonly obscured. Therefore, vehicle-mounted auxiliary implements often include an auxiliary lighting system which includes auxiliary headlights and turn signals which operate instead of (or in addition to) the vehicle's headlights and turn signals.
Such auxiliary lighting systems typically require numerous connections to the vehicle's electronic lighting system so that the auxiliary headlights and turn signals can be coordinated, powered, and controlled by the vehicle's existing electrical system. Current installation techniques involve disconnecting the vehicle's original equipment manufacturer's (“OEM”) wiring harness and splicing or otherwise connecting the new wiring harness for the auxiliary lighting to the OEM wiring. This part of the process is labor intensive and objectionable as it requires altering the vehicle's existing electrical system. For example, the time necessary to initially install and mount a snowplow that utilizes an auxiliary lighting system to a vehicle is approximately four hours. The process of installing the wiring harness consumes approximately two and one half hours of that time. FIG. 12 shows a schematic representation of a typical snowplow attached to a vehicle (shown in phantom) according to existing systems. The numerous wires or wire bundles 410 indicate typical wiring required to be installed in order to interconnect the vehicle battery, the user operated controller, the plow lamps, and the plow's hydraulic unit. Such connections typically require cutting and splicing of numerous wires. Thus, an electrical technician is required to assure that proper connections have been made.
Therefore, a simpler installation process would reduce the amount of time and effort necessary to install an auxiliary implement utilizing an auxiliary lighting system and would eliminate the need for major alterations to the vehicle's OEM electrical systems.
Many vehicles that are suited to operate an auxiliary implement, such as a snowplow or spreader, are trucks or other vehicles that include trailer hitches that include a hitch receiver and a trailer plug. It is believed that approximately 95% of trucks currently manufactured feature trailer hitches. More recently, manufacturers offer trucks with towing packages, including a hitch receiver and a trailer plug, installed as standard equipment. Trucks that do not include these features as standard equipment from the manufacturer have the towing package available as an option from the factory. Vehicles other than trucks, such as cars and all-terrain vehicles (also known as “ATV's”) may also offer such hitch receivers and trailer plugs and may also be candidates for embodiments of this invention.
“Trailer plugs” are a type of electric connector positioned at the rear end of vehicles, such as a pickup truck, usually near a hitch receiver. Each trailer plug is positioned at one end of a trailer wiring harness. Trailer plugs come in multiple varieties and are designed to power and control trailer features such as brake lights, turn signals, running lights, and the like. The two most common trailer plugs are the 7-way plug and the 4-way plug. Many trucks now come with the 7-way plug installed from the factory, as discussed above. Other common plugs include a 6-way, a 5-way, and a 4-way plug. There are also a wide variety of European type trailer plugs with different wiring configurations than those just described.